


red riding hood.

by helenblqckthorn



Series: fairy tales. [1]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare, The Shadowhunter Chronicles - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Based on Cassandra Jean's fairytale drawings, Brief Mentions of Cannibalism, F/M, Fluff, Red Riding Hood AU, im not a weirdo tho dont worry it's adressed properly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 06:04:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13093968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helenblqckthorn/pseuds/helenblqckthorn
Summary: All Jocelyn wanted to do was deliver the pastries her mother made to her grandmother. When you come across a wolf, a handsome man and grandmother-but-not-really though, things get complicated.Based uponthis drawingby Cassandra Jean





	red riding hood.

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys!!!! 
> 
> this is an idea I've had in the works for a while, i'm making a series of fics based on the drawings of tsc characters as fairy tale characters by cassandra jean.
> 
> first up is luke and jocelyn, starring in red riding hood!
> 
>  
> 
> **warning: mentions of cannibalism**

A dusty, bound leathered book lays forgotten in a shelf furthest away from view, no one has touched it in centuries. 

Until now.

A girl skips between the isles upon isles of book, tapping her fingers over the covers absentmindedly. Her gaze flits here and there, jumping from one book to the next. The further down she walks, the older the books appear.

She finally comes to a halt, craning her neck to look up at the tall bookcase in front of her. She looks to her left, and fetches the ladder she spots. It’s old and probably dangerously unstable, but determination is unstoppable. She climbs the ladder, perhaps not as warily as she should, and her gaze rests on the book. She stretches her arm into the shelf, just managing to grab the binding of the book, and pulls it out. 

She hops down the ladder, and nestles into the squashed looking armchair by the window. The dust scatters through the filtered sunlight, making her stop her hurry for just a moment and stare. Then she looks back to the book, still bound together

She tucks her legs underneath her, and slowly undoes the clasp, savouring the moment. The clasp flops back of its own accord, and the cover is revealed. 

The title isn’t at all visable, though she can spot faded gilded letters here and there. She opens the book, and the opening words seem to sigh at her, waiting to have been read for so long.

_Once upon a time…_

* * *

 

 The wolf was far too close.

Jocelyn stared, taking in the steely grey fur, the blue eyes that reflected sunlight, and the almost — calm expression on its face. 

“Be gone!” She waved her basket around towards it, willing it to leave. 

The wolf didn’t move.

“Away with you!”

It didn’t blink.

She huffed out a sigh, feeling her hands tremble a little. Wolves in the forest were known to be vicious, tales of missing limbs and mauled bodies had frightened her since she was a little girl. When she had spotted it though _—_ she didn’t feel as afraid as she once thought she would be, faced with a creature of this sort.

Jocelyn had felt fear at first of course, but it had quickly dissipated into annoyance as the wolf tailed her when she had tried to make a stealthy exit. The stealthy exit had not worked, due to a tree root that had made her fall over, but she considered that to be semantics.

The wolf was still staring at her.

She squinted at it.

“Will you just leave me be?!” Jocelyn said angrily. 

The wolf, surprisingly, bowed its head, and sloped off. It looked miserable, and Jocelyn felt a flicker of sympathy. She shook her head. Feeling sympathy for a wolf? Her mother must have put something in her morning pastries.

Her mother had fed her, wrapped the red cloak around her, and carefully packed a basket of treats for Jocelyn’s grandmother.

“Is grandmother ill?” She had asked worriedly, twisting the buttons on her cloak. Her mother and gently slapped her hands away from the buttons _—_ it was a new cloak _—_ and tucked a strand of her crimson hair behind her ear. 

“She is, but not seriously. You don’t need to worry, Jocy.”

She had narrowed her eyes at that, for she hated the nickname more than anything else anyone could call her, and her mother knew that she had grown out of it when she had been thirteen. 

Before she had time to belittle her mother on her choice of nicknames though, she had shoved the basket into her hands and pushed her out the door.

“Remember to follow the path!” Her mother had yelled after her.

Yet, here she was, off of the path, possibly just to spite her mother.

Possibly she had gotten lost.

Jocelyn sighed again, and continued in what she hoped was the right direction.

* * *

 

About fifteen minutes into her trek, she decided she was completely lost. Jocelyn was panicking just a little now.

“Hello?” She shouted, causing birds to scatter amongst the trees. “Would anybody be able to help me?” 

It was a desperate, last fleeting attempt, and she had not expected it to work. She certainly had not expected anyone to answer her, let alone appear out of thin air.

But it did.

A low chuckle sounded behind her, and she whirled, holding the basket in front of her as a sort of weapon. 

The man’s eyes widened comically, and a sly grin appeared on his face. “Looks like you’re not the damsel in distress I expected.”

That put her to a stop. She placed her hands on her hips, and looked up at the man. “Who are you calling damsel in distress?”

He was quite beautiful. White blonde hair that gleamed in the midday sun, coal black eyes that seemed to dance with laughter, and a tall slim figure that forced her to look up to his face. 

She couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something off about him though…

“Oh, no one,” He chuckled again, making some tension ease in Jocelyn’s posture. “You just seemed quite lost.”

Jocelyn did her best to look indifferent, but she was becoming dizzy from relief. She had found someone that could help her. She wasn’t completely lost.

“Well you see, I’m trying to get to my grandmothers house _—_ she’s ill _—_ and I found myself on the wrong path. Do you think you could point me in the right direction?” She asked hopefully. “My name is Jocelyn, by the way.”

The man ducked his head. “Valentine. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

They gazed at each other for a few seconds before Valentine cleared his throat and nodded to the right path of an upcoming fork in the road. “If you take that path there, you should arrive at your grandmother’s house in less than ten minutes. It’s the cottage with the thatched roof, right?”

Jocelyn nodded absentmindedly, looking to the path, and as a result she did not see the flicker of manic glee cross Valentine’s face. 

She turned back and held out her hand to shake. “Thank you ever so much, Mr…” She trailed off. 

“Morgenstern. But just call me Val. I hope we shall meet again” He said with a wink. Jocelyn coloured, and hurriedly skipped away. 

As she went upon her way, she couldn’t help but have a niggling feeling in the back of her mind. Morgenstern… where had she heard that before?

Jocelyn shrugged it off, her mind set on getting to grandmother’s house, and possibly… possibly seeing Valentine again. 

She did not see Valentine disappear into the trees.

* * *

 

Jocelyn exhaled in relief when she finally came upon her grandmother’s house, the thatched cottage shining like a haven in the clearing. 

She ignores the odd clenching in her stomach, brushing it off as nervous jitters, and walked up the cobblestone path. She went to knock on the yellow door, but saw it was already open. 

She frowned, her instincts raised. Jocelyn pushed the door open quietly, and tiptoed in. 

“Grandmother?” She called, and it echoed around the small cottage as if it were a cavern. 

Then, a croaky voice sounded from upstairs. “Yes dear?”

Relief flooded Jocelyn’s veins, and she sighed, kicking off her shoes. “Grandmother, you wouldn’t believe what happened to me today! I ran into a wolf!” She said, hopping up the stairs with her basket. 

The air becoming thicker as she went further upstairs, and smoke appeared in the stairway. She coughed. “Grandmother you need to open a window in here, it is so smoggy,” she said in between coughs. 

Jocelyn reached her Grandmother’s bedroom, and swung it open with her free hand. Smoke immediately flooded the surrounding area, and Jocelyn covered her nose and mouth with her cape. 

She could barely make out her grandmother through the haze, but she spotted the bed cap she always wore, and could make out the gold rimmed glasses placed on her nose.

The fire was raging in her fireplace, and Jocelyn rushed over to it and chucked the pitcher of water on the windowsill onto the fire. It went out in an instant. 

Coughing, she waved away the smoke in front of her in an effort to see, although it did not work. Jocelyn threw open the windows in order to clear the room, and her attention was drawn back to her grandmother. 

“Grandmother, why on earth had you filled the room with smoke?” She asked incredulously, in between coughs. She could barely still see, her cloak wrapped around her head.

“I hear it’s good for illnesses!” Her grandmother says in a quavery, unusual voice.

Jocelyn frowns. “My grandmother, the illness must have taken a toll on your speech, you sound so peculiar.”

“All the better to speak to you, my dear,” Grandmother croons in that strange voice.

The smoke is starting to clear now, and Jocelyn could see her clearer now. Jocelyn narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Grandmother, what a strange shine in your eyes you have,” she says, coughing lightly.

Her grandmother’s eyes shone sinisterly through the haze of fog, creating a strange effect. Her teeth pulled back, and Jocelyn saw that they were shiny and white, not like an old grandmother’s should be. 

She felt the pool of unease in her stomach stir. 

“Grandmother, what shiny teeth you have,” she said nervously. Jocelyn wasn’t sure if that was her grandmother anymore. 

Suddenly her grandmother rose out of the bed, towering over Jocelyn. The cap fell off as well as the glasses. 

It was the handsome man from earlier, Valentine. He did not look handsome now. His expression was feral, his eyes completely black and glittering, his teeth sharp and his grin wide. 

“All the better to eat you with, my dear,” he growled. 

It was at this moment Jocelyn remembered where she had heard the name Morgenstern. She had heard her parents whispering about them once, just snatches of words.   
  
One word had stuck out in particular though. ‘Cannibal’.   
  
Her breath stuck in her throat.   
  
She was terrified. He was about to— about to—  
  
She stumbled back and hit the floor, one hand thrust out in front of her, as if to protect herself, but it was pointless, he was leering over her, she was about to die—  
  
A shattering crash sounded to her right, and a dark shape hurtled through the window and smashed into Valentine.   
  
Jocelyn stared in shock as Valentine fell to the floor, something pounced onto him, battling with each other.   
  
It was then she realized it was a wolf. _The_ wolf.   
  
They rolled around on the floor, Valentine throwing punches and kicks, the wolf snapping and snarling at Valentine. It was a tussle that Jocelyn found hard to determine who had the upper hand and who was losing.   
  
Valentine reached behind him, and pulled out something large and shiny and sharp—an axe, he was a huntsman—and Jocelyn stared in absolute horror.   
  
Before even thinking, she had stood up, grabbed the empty pitcher, and was standing over Valentine. The wolf caught sight of she was holding, and whilst snapping at Valentine— _nodded?_   
  
Nevertheless, she raised the pitcher above her head, and brought it down onto Valentine’s head. It smashed into pieces, and Valentine fell back against the floor, unconscious.   
  
Jocelyn stood, panting. The wolf rolled off the unconscious Valentine, and then something strange happened.   
  
Where the wolf had been, a man was standing now. Jocelyn would’ve thought the wolf had disappeared, and a random man had taken its place, but she looked into the man’s eyes and they were the exact same. A clear blue.   
  
She blinked, and realized she had sunk to the floor. Apparently all of this had been too much for her body to take in.   
  
The man looked hesitant to say anything. Jocelyn just stared at him.   
  
He wasn’t as striking as Valentine, but she found that to be a good thing. His hair was a mix of brown and grey, his face worn with wisdom, and his expression kind. Jocelyn didn’t mind staring at him, but she was beginning to think it could be awkward.   
  
She cleared her throat. “What should we do with him?” She said, jerking her head towards Valentine’s unconscious figure.   
  
The man huffed out a laugh.   
  
***  
  
In the end they decided to drag him back to town to lock him up.   
  
The man’s name was Luke, he had said. He was a werewolf.   
  
Jocelyn had found that less shocking than the fact that a cannibal had pretended to be her grandmother.

Luke had held her as she'd shaken on the floor, trying to overcome what she had been faced with. They stayed there for a while, Luke's body warming Jocelyn's cold one. Eventually she had gotten up, not before throwing a look of disgust at Valentine's unconscious body, and kicked him in the head again to assure he remained unconscious.  
  
Speaking of her grandmother, Jocelyn had remembered her in a frenzied panic back at her house, but it had turned out that Valentine had locked her in the basement.   
  
They safely got her out, cleaned up the bedroom and all the smashed glass, and put her grandmother back into bed, given her medicine and the pastries. She hasn’t remembered what she was doing in the basement, thankfully, due to her old age.   
  
They installed some locks on her doors.   
  
Luke currently had Valentine over one of his shoulders, and was walking back to town with Jocelyn. He was a very funny and charming man, she found out, but not the sly charm of Valentine, a kinder, wholehearted charm.   
  
She found herself grow more and more attached to Luke as they journeyed back to town, she found herself staring at him then blushing and looking away when he realised, and she thought she felt his eyes on her for longer as well. She confessed she had never felt fear like that before, and Luke had looked at her with his trusting face and assured her she was never going to see Valentine again. After that, she became less tense.

It was when Luke was telling a particularly funny story about a fisherman, a costume and pixie, and she was doubled over laughing, that she realised they were at the edge of the forest. 

Luke rubbed the back of his neck. “It seems that this is where we say goodbye,” he said, with regret. 

Jocelyn scuffed the ground with her shoes. “Yes,” She said with equal regret. 

They both looked at each other and said at the exact same time; “May I see you again?” Then both laughed together. 

Luke grinned at her, and the surrounding area seemed to brighten at his smile. “Shall I meet you here in two days time?” He asked. 

Jocelyn felt her spirits lift. “That would be wonderful,” she said, smiling softly back at him. 

They stared at each other, and the air shifted. Jocelyn looked up at him, and she leant closer, and he was leaning towards her, and—

“I think I may need to put Valentine down before we kiss,” Luke said, colour rising in his cheeks. 

Jocelyn flicked Valentine off of Luke’s shoulder, and he fell to ground with a thump as they leaned in and their lips met. 

It was brief, chaste and everything and all at once. Jocelyn wound her arms around Luke’s neck, and sighed into his mouth. In response he pulled her waist gently towards his. 

It lasted a few seconds before Jocelyn pulled away, breathless. Luke’s eyes were shining. “Two days,” she said, her hand on his chest. 

“Two days,” he agreed, and she turned around and half-walked, half-ran home. 

* * *

 

_“Mother, you would not believe what happened to me today…”_

 

**Author's Note:**

> that took me so long to write you have no idea
> 
> up next we have Diana and gwyn in beauty and the beast! (it's going to be great I can feel it)
> 
> i hope i didn't brush over the cannibalism, it's absolutely horrifying (hence why it's valentine) and i'm not one of those weird people with kinks like that ew
> 
> comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!


End file.
